1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for recording and/or reproducing information on and/or from an information record medium, and more particularly to an apparatus for recording and/or reproducing information on and/or from an optical information recording card which is inserted into the apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the above mentioned apparatus for recording and/or reproducing information on and/or from a card-like optical information recording medium (hereinafter being termed as optical card), the optical card is inserted into the apparatus via a card insertion opening formed in a housing and is transported into a given position on a card supporting member called a shuttle by means of a loading mechanism, and then the card is moved relative to an optical head by moving the shuttle by means of a shuttle driving mechanism. After the information recording and/or reproduction, the optical card is transported in a reverse direction which is opposite to that for inserting the optical card and is discharged out of the housing via the card insertion opening. In order to avoid a double insertion of optical cards as well as to avoid intrusion of dust into the housing, the card insertion slot has to be closed. To this end, in the information recording and/or reproducing apparatus, there is provided a shutter near the card insertion slot, and the shutter is driven to open the card insertion slot only when the optical card is inserted into and is discharged from the housing via the card insertion slot.
In Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open Publications Jikkai Hei 4-65 and 4-15757, there is described a shutter driving device, in which a shutter is driven in conjunction with a detecting member for detecting the information record card, said detecting member being urged against one side edge of the record card. In this shutter driving mechanism, as long as the record card is disposed within the housing, the shutter remains be closed, and therefore the double insertion of record card can be effectively prevented, but the intrusion of dusts can not be prevented effectively, because there is a space around the shutter for the card insertion slot. That is to say, in order to prevent the double insertion of the optical card, the card insertion opening is substantially opened.
In Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open Publication Jikkai Sho 63-78361, there is disclosed another known apparatus, in which a detecting means for detecting the applicability of an record card is provided, and if it is confirmed that the record card is allowed to be used, a main shutter provided near the card insertion slot is opened, and a sub-shutter arranged in front of the main shutter is closed in response to the opening of the main shutter. However, this apparatus is liable to be complicated in construction and expensive in cost. Particularly, the record card detecting means requires a rather expensive photointerruptor for detecting the record card.
In Japanese Utility Model Publication Jikkou Sho 61-37103, there is described another known apparatus. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing this known apparatus. The apparatus comprises a card passage 150, a shutter 151 for selectively closing the card passage 150, a solenoid 152 having a plunger 153, and a connecting plate 154 secured to the plunger 153. The connecting plate 154 is movably secured to a housing 159 by means of a pin 160 and a slot 157, and a base portion of the shutter 151 is rotatably secured to the housing 159 by means of a pin 158. To the base portion of the shutter 151 is secured a pin 155 which is engaged with an upper edge 156 of the connecting plate 154, and a slit 161 is formed in the upper edge. When the solenoid 152 is not energized, the connecting plate 154 is in a right hand position in FIG. 1 due to a coiled spring 162 provided between the connecting plate 154 and the pin 158. In this condition, the pin 155 secured to the base portion of the shutter 151 is brought into contact with the upper edge 156 of the connecting plate 154, so that the shutter 151 closes the card passage 150. When the solenoid 152 is energized, the plunger 153 and thus the connecting plate 154 are moved leftward against the force of the coiled spring 162, and the pin 155 is inserted into the slit 161 formed in the connecting plate 154, so that the shutter 151 is rotated about the pin 160 in the clockwise direction to open the card passage 150.
Also, in this known apparatus, it is necessary to provide a circuit for driving the solenoid 152, and thus the apparatus is liable to be complicated in construction and expensive in cost. Moreover, a reliability of the apparatus is relatively low, because various parts cannot operate suitably for a long time.